British Blue cat breeders.

If it's the colour you like how about a blue oriental? We used to have one until his kidneys packed in. Siamese and orientals have bags more personality than British shorthairs. He looked exactly like this..

Blue colour is nice but I like cats to have short fur with slightly chubby build, not fat. Thin ones can be too boney for me. I also like them to have big heads. Siamese cats are fine but if they have rounder or bigger heads that will be very nice. Black is nice too.

We were in a similar situation a few weeks ago, our cat of 21 had to be put down and we lasted a couple of days before going to look for another kitten.

The wife had said I could have a British Blue ever since we watched "Cats & Dogs", although that is a Russian Blue I think.

But when it came to it she said she didn't like the dark blue color

So we went to see some amber british shorthair kittens which were cute but didn't grab me.

The next day we went to see some more british shorthair kittens, some of which were blue/white, some blue, some tortoiseshell, etc.

Later that day we went to see a lilac shorthair, born from a blue tortoiseshell mum and a blue dad, who was a big bruiser of a cat.

the lilac looks blue sometimes, and brown at others, depending on the background, so is a good compromise (!)

Ty is chubby enough around the face to have that same sort of look that a british blue has - which I was keen on as everytime I look at a British Blue I can't help smiling as they look slightly 'comical'.

He is now 20 weeks and we have had him for only 4 weeks.

He is fantastic fun with a great personality - I got home late from work yesterday and the wife was complaining that he had been waiting for me, looking out of the window.

I went upstairs to change and he came up and jumped on the bed ready for a play - I use a laser to get to to run repeatedly around the bed to the point where he stops and pants - not sure if that is good or not...

He goes really hyper a couple of times a day - normally just as we are trying to go to sleep, but maybe that will reduce when his nads are cut off in a couple of weeks

We got him at 16 weeks, which is slightly longer than normal as most breeders seem to let them go at 12/13 weeks.

Having seen the other kittens I would say that it is not worth going to see them until they are close to that 12 weeks as they have less 'personality' evident from which to judge whether they are right for you.

But having said that, Ty was pretty nervous of us when we met him, although he was calm and slept in the box on my wifes lap as we brought him home a few hours later, but he isn't nervous now and was at home almost immediately. But we could see his confidence, whereas we couldn't really with the younger kittens.

How easy is it to introduce a kitten into a house wth dogs? Mine aren't agressive but the youngest is a big loopy thing who may do something stupid.

I would advise keeping the dogs in a different room to start with, for their own safety, making sure your kitten is fully fed might also help the urge to attack your dogs too, but lets face it, cats rule in a mixed multipetural home

We have a Britsh blue/cream shorthair, have to say I'm not a 'cat person' but she's ace.

Just over 12 months old now and she has a fantastic temperament, so soft and playful not a bad bone in her body. Rolls over onto her back like a dog. Feel sorry for her sometimes as the kids often use her as a living doll before I have to rescue her.

She is more of a house cat but she does like to go outside although she never ventures too far away.

I think that depends where you are, down south breeders mostly seem to want around the £500 mark, but I think prices are less up north.

We saw ours on http://www.preloved.co.uk ( ) and he was £400, although that was probably over the top in this case as he didn't have his vaccinations, etc, which they normally would.

In our case Ty was the runt of his litter of 6 and his mum rejected him

Another of the breeders cats, a silver tortoiseshell bsh, had kittens at the same time and 'adopted' Ty, so he had a mixture of hand and cat rearing.

All of his siblings actually died - it was his mums first litter and maybe too early for her.

Ty was very small for a long time which is why he didn't have his vaccs, and I think the breeder/breeders family wanted to keep him because of his 'journey', but her husband put his foot down - which is why he became available at 16 weeks instead of the more normal 12 or 13.

Used to breed and show Oriental Tabbies and Siamese for 15 years. Stopped when the ratio of cats to people in the house was a little strained at 27:2! We won the National Cat Show Supreme Champion in 1996, which is the equivalent of Crufts, so had no real reason to continue breeding after that... Just kept what we had as pets until there were none left . . . Just have rescued moggies now .

My advice would be to contact the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy, there address is (or used to be) 4-6 Penel Orlieu, Bridgwater, Somerset. Ask for a list of British Blue breeders, Associated clubs, visit a few shows, speak to people and sak their opinion on what they would look for.

As to the cost, I have no Idea now. We used to sell ours for £150 to £200 each, fully insured and vaccinated and not before 12 weeks old..but that was more than 20 years ago!

Interestingly, looking at a couple of breeder's websites in my area, they say they will only sell to people looking for 'indoor pets only'. By that do they literally mean not letting the poor bugger out at all? Sounds a bit odd.

I think it must have been old age. He turned up as young one maybe 15 or 16 years ago, and stayed around. He was a tabby, and had a lovely wildcat look to him, but he had a great personality, and an enthusiastic and sweet nature. He lived outdoors, and was an amazing hunter. He's now buried at one of the spots where he used to watch the rabbits.